2017 Loire – Pouilly-Fumé last Wednesday morning

 At Saint-Andelain looking down towards 

Les Berthiers, shrouded in mist 

Last Wednesday morning it was truly autumnal with thick mist covering much of the lower ground between Chavignol (part of the commune of Sancerre) and Pouilly. We left Chavignol bathed in sunlight but by Saint-Satur the mist had closed in and it stayed that way well after we crossed the Loire till we reached the heights of Saint Andelain.  

Saint-Andelain: Looking towards Les Cassiers

 

Bunch of Sauvignon Blanc @Saint Andelain

 

 Picker @ Domaine Michel Redde

 Sébastien Redde in the winery (Domaine Michel Redde)

 Romain Redde in the vines 

 Domaine Masson Blondelet in Pouilly-sur-Loire 

 

Les Loges, Pouilly-sur-Loire– one of the places along the Loire 

where the vines are quite close to the river

 

Les Loges – very much a vignerons' village 

Sancerre can be just glimpsed through the misty background

Pouilly-Fumé – the Reddes quarry a new wine

Romain Redde with the 2014 Barre à Mine, 

Pouilly-Fumé, Michel Redde

 at the 2016 Salon des Vins de Loire

Romain Redde – more often out in the 

vineyard than indoors at wine fairs 

Having visited the vineyard on a couple of occasions it was good to taste the first vintage of Michel Redde's latest wine – 2014 Barre à Mine – at the Salon des Vins de Loire. 

As the name suggests the new wine comes from a quarry – an old disused stone quarry. In order to create the vineyard – on flint – the Reddes had to remove many huge blocks of rock. These are now piled up around the eastern edge of the vineyard, which is at La Roche on the right of the D4 road heading towards Sancerre and close to the Tracy-Sancerre railway station.

Although recently bottled the 2014 Barre à Mine is attractive textured, with good mouthfeel and balance of rich fruit with mineral acidity in the finish.   

Entrance to the La Mine vineyard 

with some of the massive rocks 

 Autumnal view of the vineyard, which faces west, 

with hill of Sancerre in distance 

Understandably, planting this vineyard has taken several years

  

Completely stoned!

 Sébastien well wrapped up against the cold wind that 

blew across the vineyard when 

we were there in late October 2015

 Sébastien is tall but he is dwarfed here by the rocks

The 42-hectare domaine is now run by Sébastien and Romain Redde with their father Thierry taking a back seat. Sébastien looks after the winery, while much of Romain's time is spent out in the vines.        

Sébastien Redde with the gaffer – Thierry 

 

Michel Redde et Fils and the spectacular Les Champs des Froids

Rocks removed from the vineyard (above and below)

In order to be able to plant the Reddes removed some massive rocks from the vineyard

Michel Redde et Fils has a new vineyard called Les Champs des Froids. In time this will be a new cuvée in their lieu-dit series. The vineyard, which is beside the road (D from Saint-Satur to the A77 is very decidedly planted on silex (flint) in parts there is virtually no soil just a mass of flints. The Reddes are planting the site in sections. Alain Cailbourdin and Benjamin Dagueneau also have vines here. 

Although the area is cold – hence the name Les Champs des Froid, the flint acts as a radiator providing heat for the vines and the grapes.

A mass of flints between the vines  (above and below)

Sébastien Redde points out the new plantings

The vineyard lies east of Sancerre and La Loire

   

2011 Loire vintage: Pouilly-Fumé – a pleasant surprise

Sébastien Redde (Michel Redde et Fils) and the nascent 2011 Pouilly-Fumé

Apologies for a rather belated report on our visit to some producers in Pouilly-Fumé on afternoon of Friday 23rd September.

Although we didn't have time to visit very many, and a couple of people we wanted to see weren't around, our impression was that a number of producers here have been very pleasantly surprised at how 2011 has turned out and that their fears at the beginning of the harvest have not been realised. Certainly the nascent wines that I tried were all clean and precise with no off flavours.

Valérie Dagueneau (Serge Dagueneau et Filles): "I was afraid before the harvest that the grapes would not have enough potential alcohol, that many would be rotten and that the acidity would be low. Certainly we needed to be very selective – we now pick a third of our vines by hand. We started on Monday 5th September and finished on Friday 16th. The Sauvignon came in at around 12% potential and had kept a good level of acidity. Our Chasselas is at 10.5%, which is a good level for this grape, which is very rot resistant."

Jean-Michel Masson and Melanie

Pierre Masson

In the centre of Pouilly-sur-Loire I dropped in and tasted at Masson-Blondlet, who were also happy with the outcome, despite the threat of rot in early September. They harvested between Thursday 8th September and Monday 19th.

Alain and Loïc Cailbourdin

Picked between 6th and 16th September.

Cailbourdin winery extension

Sébastien Redde

Sébastien Redde: 'The Ban des Vendanges was on the 5th September but we had a special derogation to start on Friday 2nd because of the threat of rot in some of our parcels. We finished on Friday 16th. Everything is picked by hand – this year we had a team of 60 pickers and a sorting table in the cellar." Sébastien and his father, Thierry, think that 2011 may be better than 2010.

After tasting with Sébastien we went to see a new Redde vineyard – see a separate post shortly.

2010 Pouilly (part 2): Serge Dagueneau et Filles

 Florence Dagueneau in August 2008

We dropped into to see Valerie Dagueneau (Serge Dagueneau et Filles, Les Berthiers, Saint-Andelain) and she kindly invited us to stay for lunch. This was the first time that I had visited the domaine since the very sad and sudden death of Florence Dagueneau in mid-February. It was clear that Florence has left a big hole in this close knit family and I imagine that her absence is being particularly keenly felt at vintage time. 

Over a simple harvest lunch, which included a delicious home-made pork and rabbit terrine made by Rémy from rabbit shot by Serge, we tasted their current range. This included a 2009 Pinot Noir from the Côtes de la Charité (formerly called Coteaux Charitois). Medium weight with attractive black fruits with length and freshness in the finish. "C'était Flo's truc," said Valerie.  

"We started last Tuesday," said Valerie, "beginning picking by hand the young and old vines. The old vines came in at 13% and 5.5 acidity. Fruit coming in from those parcels we machine-pick is at nearly 12% with a little under 6.0 acidity. Our Pinot Noir from Saint-lay has been picked and has a potential of 12.3%. We are about halfway through picking."

••

Landrat-Guyollot
We also dropped in to see Sophie Guyollot (Landrat-Guyollot also in Les Berthiers). Sophie reported that they had started last Wednesday with the grapes coming in at between 11.0%-11.5% with 6 acidity. "We have five days of harvesting left and we need now to pick as quickly as possible."

Michel Redde et Fils
I also stopped off at Michel Redde and saw Sébastien, Thierry Redde's son. "This year we are picking 50% by hand and 50% by machine – essentially it is our Petit Fumé which is machine harvested. However, the objective is to move to 100% hand picking into 10-12 kilo cagettes. We started picking last Monday (27th September) and we should finish on Thursday or Friday. The fruit is between 12%-12.5% with around 5.8 acidity. I think 2010 will probably be similar to 2007 and 2002."